This invention relates to cargo carrying wooden pallets, and in particular relates to the disassembly of such pallets for purposes of recovery and reuse of the slats and ribs that are used in their construction.
Cargo carrying pallets that are constructed of wooden slats and ribs are commonly used for handling and carrying a wide range of goods and cargo. Boxes of the cargo typically are loaded on the pallets and a material handling vehicle, such as a forklift truck, is then used to pick up and move the loaded pallet. The forklift trucks are adapted to move the pallets into and from truck trailers and railroad cars, and also to move, stack and position the loaded pallets at loading docks, warehouses and other storage areas.
Pallets of the foregoing character oftentimes are damaged and rendered unsafe or unusable when the slats and ribs are broken or cracked during use. It is then necessary to replace the pallets. However, because of the relatively high cost of lumber, eg., the wooden ribs and slats can cost as much as fifty cents each, it is desirable to break apart or disassemble the pallets so that the unbroken slats and ribs can be salvaged for rebuilding into additional pallats. Heretofore, it has been exceedingly difficult to break such pallets apart, especially where they are assembled by the use of helical or twisted nails. In the past workers have used crowbars or other similar tools to manually break the pallets apart, but this is slow and expensive in view of the high cost of labor. In many cases broken or damaged pallets have merely been discarded without attempting to salvage the usable slats and ribs. Accordingly, the need has been recognized for a means which will make it feasible to salvage the usable lumber from broken or damaged pallets.